Even the greatest experts in vaccine science have encountered disbelief and ambivalence.
Dr. Gregory Poland, 68, editor of the journal Vaccine, said a loud ringing in his ears had accompanied every moment since his first injection, but his pleas to colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to explore the The phenomenon of tinnitus had led nowhere.
He received polite responses to his many emails, but “I just don’t have any feeling of movement,” he said.
“If they have done studies, those studies should be published,” Dr. Poland added. Desperate to never hear silence again, he sought solace in meditation and his religious faith.
Dr. Buddy Creech, 50, who led several Covid vaccine trials at Vanderbilt University, said his tinnitus and racing heart lasted about a week after each injection. “It’s very similar to what I experienced during the acute phase of Covid, in March 2020,” Dr Creech said.
Research could ultimately reveal that most of the reported side effects are not related to the vaccine, he acknowledged. Many may be caused by Covid itself.
“Regardless, when our patients experience a side effect that may or may not be related to the vaccine, we owe it to them to investigate as thoroughly as possible,” Dr. Creech said.
Federal health officials say they do not believe Covid vaccines caused the illnesses described by patients like Mr. Barcavage, Dr. Zimmerman and Ms. France. Vaccines can cause transient reactions, such as swelling, fatigue and fever, according to the CDC, but the agency has only documented four serious but rare reactions. Side effects.
Two are associated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is no longer available in the United States: Guillain Barre syndromea known side effect of other vaccines, including flu shot; and one blood clotting mess.
The CDC also links mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to heart inflammation, or myocarditis, particularly in boys and young men. And the agency warns of anaphylaxis, or severe allergic reaction, which can occur after any vaccination.
Listening to the signals
Agency scientists are monitoring large databases containing medical information on millions of Americans for trends that might suggest a previously unknown side effect of vaccination, said Dr. Demeter Daskalakis, director of the CDC National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
“We toe the line by reporting signals that we think are real signals and reporting them as soon as we identify them as signals,” he said. The agency’s systems for monitoring vaccine safety are “pretty close” to ideal, he said.
